Rez Kristofferjun Z.

Catedral
Section JD 1B
Constitutional Law 1

Lasco v. UNRFNRE
G.R. Nos. 109095-109107 February 23, 1995

FACTS:

The petitioners Eldepio Lasco, et al., were dismissed from their employment under the private
respondent United Nations Revolving Fund for Natural Resources Exploration (UNRFNRE).
UNRFNRE which is a special fund and subsidiary organ of the United Nations. The petitioners
originally filed complains against the respondent through NLRC. The respondent filed a Motion
to Dismiss against the complaints with the argument that the Labor Arbiter had no jurisdiction
over its personality since it enjoyed diplomatic immunity pursuant to the 1946 Convention on the
Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

On November 25, 1991, the Labor Arbiter issued an order dismissing the complaints on the
ground that private respondent was protected by diplomatic immunity. The Petitioners filed for a
motion for reconsideration, however, it was also denied. Thus, an appeal was filed with the
NLRC, which affirmed the dismissal of the complaints in its Resolution dated January 25, 1993.
With their complaints and their appeals were denied, the petitioners filed an instant petition for
certiorari without first seeking a reconsideration of the NLRC. This time, they founded their
argument that the acts of mining exploration and exploitation are outside the official functions of
an international agency protected by diplomatic immunity and insisted that private respondent
waived their immunity when it engaged in exploration work and entered into a contract of
employment with petitioners. They also added the constitutional mandate that the State shall
afford full protection to labor and promote full employment and equality of employment
opportunities for all (1987 Constitution, Art. XIII, Sec. 3).

Issue:

The issue at hand is whether or not specialized agencies like UNRFNRE, are entitled to enjoy
diplomatic immunity?

Resolution:

Yes. Under Article 105 of the Charter of the United Nations: (1) “The Organization shall enjoy
in the territory of its Members such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the fulfillment
of its purposes.” (2) “Representatives of the Members of the United Nations and officials of the
Organization shall similarly enjoy such privileges and immunities as are necessary for the
independent exercise of their functions in connection with the organization.” Section 4 of
Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies of the United Nations
states that, “The specialized agencies, their property, and assets, wherever located and by
whomsoever held shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except insofar as in any
particular case they have expressly waived their immunity. It is, however, understood that no
waiver of immunity shall extend to any measure of execution (Emphasis supplied).” And Section
5: “The premises of the specialized agencies shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the
specialized agencies, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search,
requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by the
executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action (Emphasis supplied).” Wherefore, the
petitioners instant petition for certiorari is dismissed.